Frank Lampard has told EvertonTV that Fabian Delph and Yerry Mina are two players who will be ‘really pivotal’ to guiding Everton away from the Premier League relegation zone.
Delph played his first game under the England icon as the Toffees beat Manchester United 1-0 on Saturday. The midfielder has rarely been available since the Blues hired Lampard in January to replace Rafa Benitez, having sustained a thigh injury in training just days before.
The blow consigned Delph to the treatment room at Finch Farm until the Blues’ trip to Turf Moor last week. But Lampard chose against fielding the 32-year-old, as Burnley came from behind to beat Everton 3-2. Yet he started and played 84 minutes against the Red Devils.
Mina, meanwhile, has been unseen in an Everton shirt since limping off at Newcastle with a high-grade quadriceps tendon injury. He suffered the blow on February 8 while making his 10th Premier League appearance this season so far in Lampard’s first fixture in charge.
Lampard now hopes to welcome Mina back from injury when Leicester City visit Goodison Park on April 20. Everton then visit Liverpool and host Chelsea before visiting the Foxes, in a tough run of top-flight fixtures as the Toffees look to remain clear of the relegation zone.
Frank Lampard hails ‘really pivotal’ Fabian Delph for Everton survival bid
Lampard expects Delph – a two-time Premier League, one-time FA Cup and three-time EFL Cup winner with Manchester City – to play a big part in Everton’s survival bid. He has long waited to have the 20-cap former England midfielder fit so to capitalise on his leadership.
“I hadn’t been able to play him yet [due to injury], but I have been really keen to because he has got experience and this situation demands that,” Lampard said. “He has also got positional awareness, the way receives the ball. He is a leader in the dressing room.
“Hopefully, we will also have Yerry Mina back for the next game. These are players who are really pivotal to what we’re trying to do, and Delphy came back and showed why.”
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